Olli Olli Oxenfree!
by Armageddon Child
Summary: This isn't just a game anymore. Can you hear me? Come out, come out, where ever you are... -ABANDONED-
1. Prologue: A New Prototype

A/N: Whoo! Fourth Fic! Bit of a longer prologue that doesn't make much sense right now. There are subtle little hinty-things you should probably pick up on if you don't want to be lost in the future. Set after book three...because I haven't read book four yet :sob: So just pretend that none of book four ever happened, kay?

I tried to make this story seem lighter and more happy than some of my previous ones that are dark and scary and bloody. There will be blood (hence the T rating) but not as much scary. XD

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Maximum Ride, blah, blah, blah, yeah! Enjoy!

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Prologue: A New Prototype

The smooth white walls of the elevator didn't even tremble as the metal box shot passed countless levels and floors. It seemed to slow at several landings, as if deciding whether or not it should stop, before picking up speed once more and moving on. One of the power strips that fed light into the elevator had blown out, leaving half of the cart cast in darkness.

It was this single blown out light that made the elevator's soul occupant very, very angry. He was a man who hated imperfection. Every hair of his dark beard was combed expertly into place. Every wrinkle in the long white lab-coat dangling around his knees was ironed out with a skilled hand. Every pencil in his pocket, every piece of data in his hand-held computer, every thought in his very head was organized to perfection.

The man, annoyed at his bad eyesight that had come with his age, squinted at the blown out strip and pondered whether or not it would be professional to scale the elevator walls and fix it himself. He thought better of it after a while; coming to the conclusion that such physical activity might wrinkle his shirt. Still…the bulb very much annoyed him.

When the elevator finally slid to a smooth halt, the man almost frowned. He was enjoying his time in the silent and empty box. It reminded him very much of the solitary confinement chambers he had spent most of his destructive childhood in. Observed by doctors and nurses in greed scrubs, machines that blinked, and machines that whirled. Many physiologists had tried very hard in their lifetime to see into the prodigy's mind…all had failed miserably.

The doors slid open soundlessly.

A short balding man with cold eyes was waiting for him when he stepped out. The shorter man, who had Japanese origins in his blood, looked as though he was about to bow, but thought better of it and offered a hand instead. "Doctor Pendragon, a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

The Doctor ignored the lab attendant's hand and strode stiffly from the elevator box, "There's a light out," he mumbled, jerking his head back toward the now closing elevator. The lab attendant swiped a hand across his forehead and frowned, "Yes. We'll get janitorial to take care of that for you, sir. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Doctor Pendragon glanced around the small cube of lab compartments the elevator had taken him into. The desks were cluttered and the machines were loud. People rushed back and forth in a seemingly mindless dance, signing notes, checking lab results, translating long streams of code. Anything to keep them looking busy and important in the eyes of the Director.

"If you'll just follow me, sir," said the lab attendant, who made a point of straightening out his coat so the plastic nametag could be seen clearly. It read JOHN TUKARI in black inscribed letters. Doctor Pendragon frowned as he followed John down the cluttered rows of cubicles. Frowning, as it so happened, was one of the Director's favorite pastimes…and he was very good at it.

"We've been working on a number of projects," John rambled as they left the lab and entered a long hall with wide windows covering one side. Every once in a while the long span of windows would be broken by a wide black bar, splitting the long hallway into four sections. As the Director glanced almost distractedly through the first window, he saw the purpose of the bars.

Each window was like a peephole into a wide room. The rooms were square and white, held no windows, and almost no furniture. Wide fluorescent strips ran overhead, leaving no shadows or hidden spaces. The glass windows covered one wall of each room entirely. Plexi-glass to be specific. Virtually indestructible.

In the first room, a round and colorful rug was placed haphazardly in the center. A bed with bright sheets was pressed against the wall, accompanied by a nightstand with a yellow lamp that danced across the walls. An open chest was at the foot of the bed, clearly meant to be the resting place of the numerous children's toys spread over the rug.

There was a small girl curled up in the corner, her eyes fixed on the ground.

"She's an experiment in progress," John informed, continuing his brisk pace down the hall. Doctor Pendragon followed without a second look at the girl, who, in turn, followed them both with a sharp eye until they were out of sight.

Each room was similar. Bright rugs and cozy beds, open chests and scattered toys. In the second room, a boy lay across the bed with an arm over his eyes. In the third room, twin girls pushed a wooden train back and forth across the rug. Each one followed the walking Director with their eyes. Cold and hard. Starved and lifeless.

"But this," said John, turning around to walk backwards so he could address the Director, "is what I really wanted to show you. It's an old design, but with a completely new approach. It's more compact than before, more durable than the last design. A completely new prototype."

Doctor Pendragon turned to the window, his eyes sliding half-shut as he tilted his head to inspect the occupant of the cell.

It was a boy, no older than twelve or thirteen. Built thin and small with dark brown hair that stuck up in disordered half-curls around his skull. His skin was pale and flawless, spotted with freckles that hinted at an Irish descendent. The loose white clothes all the cell-occupants had been wearing hung about his thin frame like a wet blanket, making him look even smaller than he was.

Pale brown eyes watched them approach.

"We introduced the DNA to his system when he was still an embryo," John explained, his voice hushed as he watched Doctor Pendragon's intense gaze. "His body accepted it naturally and it grew to him smoothly…more smoothly than any of the other testing subjects. Look at the way he moves. It's fluid. Like water."

The boy, who had been staring hard at a colorful wooden boat on the rug, glanced up as if just noticing his two observers. Like the others, he stared at them strangely…yet, unlike the others, he was smiling.

John held up his hand to the glass and pressed his palm against it, ignoring the disapproving look of the Director who hated fingerprints. The boy lifted off the floor and walked swiftly to the window, his bare feet padding soundlessly across the rug and onto the tile. He pressed his palm to the glass opposite of John's hand. Creating a smaller impression of the lab attendant's palm.

John smiled, crouching down to the boy's eyelevel, "We call him Oliver. Ollie for short. As you know, most of the test subjects we've introduced the lupine DNA into have shown…violence and aggression at an early age. Ollie's different. He's growing up and behaving just a child his age should. He talks to us as though he was human. As if he really is a child and not just…"

John's sentence faded as his smile dropped.

"Just an experiment," Doctor Pendragon finished.

John nodded, lifting his hand from the glass, "Yeah. Just an experiment."

Doctor Pendragon observed the look that crossed the lab technician's face. It was almost sad, regretful…the way a parent looks at their child when they're sick or hurt. A look that said 'I care for you'. Doctor Pendragon looked hard at the boy who was still holding his palm up to the glass.

He would be trouble.

The Doctor's at Itex lab had been specifically trained to avoid attachment to any of the test subject. It was that very reason the former Director of this particular lab had been exiled from any contact with Itex permanently. Everyone in every lab all over the world knew that if Jeb Batchelder ever showed up around Itex again…he would be killed.

Attachments were dangerous. Just as the attachment between Batchelder and his subjects had been disastrous. John motioned with his hand from the other end of the hall where he had walked to while the Director was lost in thought. "Sir? Are you coming? There's still a lot more to see in the labs."

Doctor Pendragon nodded stiffly, removing his gaze from the palm pressed against the glass on the other side. He didn't even bother to look back at the boy that watched them leave. There was no point to it…no point at all.

Why waste his time on the walking dead?

There was no question to the matter.

The boy would have to be destroyed.


	2. Chapter 1: That Lupine DNA

A/N: Just some background before we kick it into high gear and never stop! WAHOO!

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Chapter One: That Lupine DNA

Oliver sat at the edge of the bed, his feet hanging over the sides to just barely touch the colorful rug below. The cloth texture of the book cradled in his lap felt rough and worn against his fingertips; the complete opposite of the smooth white pages inside. His eyes skimmed over the text, taking in a paragraph or two and then skipping several pages.

Doctor Tukari had brought him the book the night before, allowing him to stay up after lights-out to read. Some of the other doctors that worked in the lower labs disapproved of Tukari encouraging education in a test subject, and often voiced their concerns to him while Oliver was in hearing distance. The concerns usually weren't taken seriously, being that Tukari was the head of the lower labs and in charge of everything.

Oliver flipped the book closed and set it on the nightstand next to his bed, switching the tap-lamp placed atop the stand to its lowest setting before sliding off the bed. His bare feet left the warm comfort of the rug and touched down against the cold tile as he made his way across the room. Pressing his hand to the wide open-glass window covering one wall, Oliver gave the empty hall just beyond the glass a wary sweep.

As usual, the labs were empty at such late hours. Still, it never hurt for him to scope out late night workers and meandering guards. He walked back to the bed with a slight spring in his step and snatched the book off the nightstand, meaningfully turning away from the boxspring and heading for the only exit to his cell.

The smooth white door opened without resistance, sliding shut in complete silence under the guidance of Oliver's experienced hand. The hall beyond the door was long and narrow, lit by only dim light strips that snaked across the walls. The floor, as always with the lower labs, was made of stark white tile, cold and hard to the touch.

Oliver kept his back pressed to the wall for several cautious seconds, his head turning back and forth as if expecting company to suddenly turn the corner. He whistled experimentally, letting the sharp noise echo down the hall and bounce back undisturbed.

Satisfied, Oliver clutched the book to his chest and began the familiar route to Doctor Tukari's single-room personal lab. He counted the steps he took carefully, finally reaching the number forty-three before coming to an abrupt stop just outside a white door. This door was no different than the thousands of other doors that plagued the lower labs. The only thing that made it unique was that it was exactly forty-three boy-steps from Oliver's cell.

Doctor Tukari's only personal lab.

This door wasn't locked either, which was an exceedingly common thing in the lower labs of this particular Itex. The lower labs of _any_ scientific company were never trusted with any testing of great importance, making the objects and information hidden behind the lower level doors virtually useless. There was also the fact that this particular Itex was no longer given anything important or meaningful to work on. It lay hunkered down at the bottom of the scientific food chain, never to rise again.

The room behind the simple white door was no larger than a common living room. The walls were snowy as were the tiles in the floor and the ceiling. Long bars of fluorescent light bulbs provided the only needed source of light, much like the rest of the lower labs.

Doctor Tukari was hunched over an empty table pushed against the far wall, his face pressed tightly against the black-rimmed eyepiece of an electric-microscope. He jumped at the sound of the opening door, ungracefully dropping his glasses and spinning around so quickly his white lab-coat billowed open like the wings of a great bat.

He looked startled at first, staring at the boy in the doorway as his brain tried to register this was someone he knew and loved very much. The look of shock dropped from his face to form a look of joy that almost instantly washed away to worry. All these emotions happened in such a quick procession that after the worry dissolved, Doctor Tukari's face remained blank, as if not sure what to do with itself.

"Did I scare you?" Oliver whispered, shutting the door behind him and tiptoeing across the room. Oliver's eyes instinctively took in his keeper's receding hairline and drooping face, the dark lines beneath his eyes growing more pronounced each visit. The good doctor worked himself too hard, and Oliver knew this. It worried him very much that the only person he had come to love might be suffering in any way.

"Scared? Me? Not at all," Tukari reprimanded quickly, stooping down to pick up his eyeglasses from the floor, "though I have to bring up the subject of _knocking_ before _entering_ once again. Dear Lord, Ollie, will you ever learn?"

"Sorry," Oliver grinned, keeping his voice low despite the fact that Tukari was speaking in normal tones. The boy set the book down on an empty table and launched himself up to sit next to it on one movement, swinging his legs excitedly as Tukari shoved the glasses back on his nose bridge.

"Oliver," Tukari chided once he had composed himself, "what have I told you about sneaking in here at night? If anybody catches you here after-hours I don't think I could made a good enough excuse that would keep me from the sack, okay?"

Oliver ducked his head, feeling a little guilty about putting his keeper through so much worry, but still happy to see him. "You're the one who leaves my door open! Besides, I finished the book!"

Feeling proud of himself, Oliver held out the worn blue novel and grinned wildly. Doctor Tukari smiled more to himself than anything and slid the book into his coat pocket. "Did you like it?"

Oliver nodded, swinging his legs harder, "Do you have any more for me?"

Tukari was about to nod, but stopped himself on the first jerk. He eyed the boy sitting in front of him and silently contemplated how long he had stayed up after-hours reading it and depriving himself of precious sleep. Still…below his feelings of concern for the subject of which he had grown so fond of…a secret voice nagged at him for forgetting the _real_ reason he was worried.

Between the ages of ten and fourteen was a very critical time for the experiments in the lower levels. It was at the time of early pubescence that the lupine DNA infused within the subjects at the embryonic state began to react and grow. It was this very problem that had confronted Itex in the first stages of growing these human-lupine hybrids. They were meant to be bred for fighting and slaughter, nothing more nothing less. The fact that the DNA wasn't introduced to a subjects system until much later on in their life made creating large numbers very difficult.

It was this that had driven Itex to create another strand of DNA that speeded the aging process very quickly. A child could grow from infancy to pre-pubescent very rapidly. Thus, ensuring that they could create large numbers of the hybrids swiftly and efficiently. Of course there were side effects. The hybrid's life expectancy was no longer than five years at the most, and their structure was…unstable at best. With the introduction of the growth strand, the unexpected side-effect of rage had been drawn.

It was this rage and hatred for every living thing that made the hybrids such pristine subjects for tracking and fighting. And so, the 'Erasers' were born. They lived too short to develop a personality beyond hate. And they bent that hate under the will of their only master. Itex.

Tukari frowned as his thoughts emerged from the merciless creatures Itex had created…and returned to a more parental point of view. He leaned back against the counter and adjusted his glasses, inspecting the boy before him. It was hard to imagine someone as gentle and naïve as Oliver transforming into the grotesque monsters that prowled the Itex halls. Though the possibility of such an occurrence still remained.

Oliver _was_ infused with Lupine DNA…though the growth strand had not been administered for testing purposes. While all other subjects bent under the same conditions of his testing had withered before the pre-pubescent stage in which _real_ experimentation could begin…somehow, Oliver had survived.

Tukari smiled warmly and motioned for Oliver to get off the table. The boy obliged and leaped to the floor lithely, his scrawny arms and legs already beginning to show the start of development. In a few more years he would be able to morph as the other hybrids did, and then…what then?

"Tell you what," Tukari reasoned, ruffling Oliver's already ruffled hair, "I'll come to _you_ tomorrow night…and we can read it together, okay? Just promise me you'll sleep for tonight. You really do need your rest."

Oliver smiled and nodded, obediently crossing the room and slipping out the door. "Goodnight," he whispered, lingering a bit before letting the door click shut.

John Tukari stared at the shut door fondly for several minutes after Oliver had left, running a well-worked hand over his face as he released a sigh. What would the upper levels think if they ever found his attachment to Oliver? For a scientist to grown loving of their subjects was almost unspeakable…especially after Jeb and his subjects.

If they ever found out…Oliver would be destroyed.

Tukari let his gaze slip to the floor, wondering back to the day before when the Director had visited the lower labs for inspection. The way Doctor Pendragon looked at Oliver through the glass…it unnerved Tukari. There was a type of cold determination in his eyes. Like he knew something was up.

Almost like he knew…

Tukari shook the thought away, turning back to his microscope. He couldn't keep his eyes from straying to the door one more time…

"Goodnight, Ollie…"


	3. Chapter 2: Fly by Night

A/N: I forgot to mention at the beginning that the Flock IS going to turn up, just like in all my other stories so hold your horses! Or pants...or whatever. Enjoy!

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Chapter Two: Fly by Night

A thick manila envelope slapped down hard against the smooth black-glass table, momentarily blotting out the sound of the ceiling fan's chopping blades above. Footsteps echoed around the room as Doctor Pendragon slowly made his way around the long conference table, his arms folded neatly behind his back.

"Mr. Tukari?" the Director asked, examining the thin white lines etched in his palms. John glanced up from the manila envelope that had been slapped down right in front of him, the slight sheen of cold sweat shimmering on his forehead. Aside from Doctor Pendragon and the lab attending from the lower levels, the room was empty. Though there was every reason to suspect a fully attack-oriented Eraser standing guard just beyond the closed door.

"Yes, sir?" John asked, his voice balking.

Doctor Pendragon finished his circuit around the table and tapped at the glass next to the envelope, his standing form towering over the seated Tukari. "Do you…like your job? Mr. Tukari? Does it…suit you well?"

John hesitated, not sure what the director was playing at. "Yes, sir," he replied meekly, nodding his head to show enthusiasm. Somewhere in the depths of his chest a cold pit of fear was forming. They had called him out of the lower labs just as the shifts were ending…just as he was about to visit Oliver. Could it be that they had finally pieced the puzzle together?

The Director tapped the envelope, "Are you sure, Doctor Tukari? Because, for a man who greatly appreciates his job…you certainly have been putting a lot on the line."

Shifting, John stared hard at the envelope, wishing he could tear open the taunting package and see what was inside. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, sir. I love my job…I've been a lab technician for over thirty years. Always loyal to Itex, sir. Nobody else. Just you."

"Hmm…" The Director muttered, straightening out a small wrinkle in his shirt pocket, "well, Mr. Tukari, if what you say is true then I think it should be in both our best interests if you open this letter." The envelope slid closer to John under the guidance of Pendragon's index finger, the paper making a dry scraping noise against the black glass.

Tukari picked up the envelope gingerly, sliding his thumb under the thick wax seal and breaking it. A piece of plain white printer paper slid out of its fancy wrappings by its own will, landing in John's lap as if it had been made for it. Swallowing hard, and under the penetrating gaze of the Director, Tukari unfolded the paper and read the text.

"What's this…?" his voice faltered.

"This," the Director stressed, taking the paper from Tukari and setting it on the table, "is a proposal that removes test subject A63-8T from under your care…and releases it to the upper lab levels. It's all there Doctor Tukari, written in full. All it requires…is your signature."

John's hands shook as the Director kindly offered him a speck-free pen from his coat-pocket, letting the silver tube flash and spin next to the paper. Subject A63-8T. Oliver…God, he'd almost forgotten the boy had a number…just like the rest of the experiments. _Because that's what he is, Doctor Tukari…just another experiment_.

"Sign it, Doctor Tukari," Pendragon's voice was low next to his ear.

"Just sign it and let it be done."

* * *

Oliver rolled onto his back and folded his arms under his head, glaring at the ceiling in frustration. The tender area of skin on the inside of his elbow still smarted from the needle the other white-coats had used to draw blood that morning. The stiff bandage plastered over the small puncture wound crinkled when he moved, making the skin surrounding the area uncomfortable.

The lab had been quiet and dark for hours. Grumbling, Oliver tossed over to lie on his side and pressed the starchy fabric of the pillow to his face. His keeper had promised that he would read to him after shifts were over. But they'd _been_ over for several hours now…and still no sign of Tukari.

Feeling restless, Oliver crawled out of bed and crept to the smooth door in the far wall, running his fingers along the sliver-thin edges. The door was locked. Lines of worry etched against Oliver's brow as he resorted to pacing the room. The door was _never _locked. It hadn't been locked for the passed five years. Ever since he'd started working with his keeper.

Oliver whined to himself and pressed his back to the wall, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor with his head buried in his arms. Locks of dark hair fell over his eyes as he rocked his head from side to side, humming a quiet tune to keep himself awake. His arms itched and burned irritably under the skin, making his squirm and resent trying to fall asleep.

"Hello?" Oliver said aloud, his voice muted against the smooth walls. Nobody answered…they never did. Tukari had taken him to see the other experiments in his department that lived in the cells next to his on more than one occasion. Though most of them were his age none of them spoke. For some reason Oliver remembered there being a lot more when he was younger…of course they had all been terminated.

Paralyzing fear stripped Oliver's bones. His keeper had told him the night before they couldn't be caught seeing each other after-hours. What if someone had caught Tukari sneaking in to see him? What if Tukari had been terminated like the others?

Oliver was just about to jump to his feet and try the door again when, to his great surprise and relief, it slid open on it's own accord. His keeper's face looked worn and gaunt, more so than the night before. It wasn't just the lack of sleep that was showing in his eyes. There was something else hidden there as well…buried worry and regret.

"I didn't think you'd come," Oliver exclaimed, jumping to his feet and releasing the breath he'd been holding in his throat. Tukari almost seemed shocked as Oliver padded up to him and wrapped his small arms around the lab technician in a tight hug. Burying his face into his keeper's coat, Oliver bit hard at his lip and reminded himself that he probably shouldn't be doing this.

He pulled away abruptly, wrapping his arms around themselves to resist the urge of another embrace. Tukari stood there looking sad for several moments before coming back to reality. He took a few half-hearted steps into the room and smiled, the constant worry in his eyes making him seem less joyful then he wanted to appear.

"Oliver," he started, and then though better of it, relapsing back into silence with a hand over his mouth. Oliver watched him thoughtfully, "Did you get into trouble because of me?"

Tukari didn't answer for a long time. When he finally did his voice was strained and cracked in several places before he cleared his throat and had to start over. Dropping to one knee so he was eye-level with the much shorter boy, Tukari straightening the edges of Oliver's ruffled shirt the way a parent would.

"Listen, Ollie," he stopped, shaking his head slightly and then starting up again, "we, uh…need to take you outside, okay? There was a mistake with today's schedule and…we didn't get in the field exercise you were supposed to complete. I know it's after-hours, but I think it would be better if we did the exercise now instead of tomorrow."

Oliver nodded mutely; feeling confused as Tukari took hold of his hand and led him away from his cell. Field exercises weren't a common thing for Oliver's training at this point. He wasn't a fully functional Lupine-Hybrid yet so there weren't many things that required physical training. Sometime his keeper, or other white-coats he wasn't familiar with, would take him outside to run a few laps. Other than that it was just short walks or lounging outside so he could get some fresh air.

They rode the elevator in silence, all the while the grip on Oliver's hand never slacking. When they finally made it to the courtyard everything was dark and silent. Oliver squinted in the half-light; the nightvision usually equipped in all hybrids not developed enough to let him see more than vague outlines and shadows.

For a while his keeper just stood there, holding his hand and staring into the darkness beyond. He crouched again after a lone silence, taking Oliver by the shoulders and turning the boy to face him. "This is just another test Ollie, nothing to be worried about, okay? I'm going to let you go for a while…and I want you to run as hard and as fast as possible. Get as far away from this place as you can."

"But," Oliver interrupted, "what about my trackers? And the locators? All the other field equipment? If I leave them behind nobody will be able to find me."

"Exactly!" Tukari exclaimed, fierce determination burning behind his glasses, "This is what the exercise is all about. You have to run…and when you leave, people are going to start looking for you. But you can't let them find you, Oliver. It's like Hide and Seek. You can't let them find you _ever_."

Oliver felt his limbs grow cold, "What if I'm not back for a long time?"

His keeper's face grew soft and he reached up his hand to brush a stray lock of hair from Oliver's face. "It's going to be a difficult exercise, Ollie. You could be away for days or weeks…maybe more. But I never want you to stop running. You have to stay away from the labs. The longer you stay away…the more proud of you I'll be when you return."

Oliver glanced anxiously into the darkness waiting for him, "What…am I supposed to be running toward?"

Tukari paused to take several deep breaths before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a computer chip. The chip was no larger than his thumb and was drilled through with a small hole at the top. Someone had threaded a cord through the hole to make a sort of necklace, tied together at the ends with a tight knot.

"There's a man," Tukari whispered, sliding the cord around Oliver's neck, "his name is Jeb Batchelder. You need to find him and give him this disk, okay? That's what your running toward, Oliver. Look at me. Find him, and you'll be safe."

Oliver nodded, rolling the disk between his thumb and forefinger nervously. Tukari stood and shoved Oliver gently in the direction of the woods that surrounded the lab. He nodded once to show everything was okay. Only once. No more.

And with that, Oliver melted into the night.

Tukari turned back to the lab with tears in his eyes. He could give Oliver a few hours head start, but that was it. It was only a matter of time before the Director caught on to what had happened. Tukari would be questioned…and probably killed.

He could only hope Oliver would be far away by then.

He could only hope…


End file.
